Potential human contact with waterfowl - how to prevent/disinfect for avian flu & contaminated shoes?

[PandemicChicken]

So my family and I visited the ocean harbor and saw waterfowl (mainly wild ducks) in the water and some seagulls flying around. For context, there are 2 cases of avian flu in my county and both flocks were euthanized. We don't think we accidentally stepped in fresh bird poop, but could have stepped in like old bird poop that's like stained on the pier (which I think is common right by the ocean).

My question is how avian/bird flu gets transmitted (is the virus airborne?), and how long the virus lives on surfaces?? I'm worried we stepped in an area of contamination since we saw waterfowl in the water, and the harbors in general have a lot of seagulls (which means poop). I'm worried about my hen and the risk of avian flu because we walked in the driveway and through the garage with those same shoes from the harbor. I only remembered after we walked in, and then I put all my clothes in the laundry and washed my hands before handling my chicken. She takes dust baths in our garage since it's still pretty cold and the dirt is hard outside, and tends to walk around in the garage when we don't know she's done. How can I disinfect our shoes, garage, and shoe rugs when we potentially contaminated the area? Would washing it with water be enough? How long does avian flu stay on surfaces & is it airborne? I'm really worried that our exposure to water fowl transmitted avian flu into our garage & chicken's environment

 

[DonyaQuick]

It's transmitted mainly through direct contact with infected fecal matter, but I've also seen/heard dander and any other body fluids as a potential risk for hpai. Wash, scrub, and dry shoes, then disinfect with something that works against viruses or a bleach solution. Probably not much you can do about the dirt but if you can disinfect the garage floor where you walked with the shoes that wouldn't be a bad idea. The virus can survive on surfaces but heat and dry kill it much faster then cool, damp areas. Your car tires could also have contaminated material. If you can keep your chickens away from the whole area for some time that would of course be the safest option. Offhand I don't recall the virus survival times under different conditions but it's been discussed in the longer hpai threads.

 

[chicknmania]

I don't really know how much good this does, but anytime I go to the feed store or anywhere where I know there are waterfowl and I may have stepped in poop or driven through it, I wash my car tires off at the car wash, and disinfect my tires with Oxine spray before I hit our driveway. And I disinfect my shoes and the gas pedal, brake pedal, and driver's floor before I get out. I mean really....we can only do what we can do and the rest is out of our hands. Anything can happen regardless of what measures we take, but it makes me feel better at least to know that I'm trying to do something.

 

[chicknmania]

OH, and I don't remember what thread this was on, but someone said that McMurray Hatchery had bird flu. I've seen nothing in the news about that and I also monitor the USDA sites EVERY day, and they haven't said anytning about a hatchery anywhere contracting bird flu. I was curious, so I called the hatchery. They're closed on the weekend, but there was nothing in any message or on their website about AI, and I think there would have to be. I don't order from them, but I don't think it's right for someone to be spreading that kind of information unless it's really true and even it was true, they seem to have resolved the issue.